Most often the press writes about some Brown Act, California’s Open Government law, violations committed by a board or commission.
But last month, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors amended its policy on Electronic Media and Use (A-50) to help supervisors and staff avoid an inadvertent violation.
Supv. Kevin Jeffries (District 1) observed to his colleagues that emails sent to all or even a majority of board members could unintentionally trigger a “serial meeting” if any respondent, even staff, were to “reply all” to the message.
He proposed that whenever an email from a county account is sent to a majority of the supervisors, or even a city council or board appointed commission, the blind carbon copy (BCC) function be used.
“If a single user or anyone hits ‘reply all’ it doesn’t automatically create, but has the potential to create an accidental serial meeting,” he said. “Let’s require staff that they don’t use that form and inadvertently walk into something.”
His colleagues agreed and unanimously approved the policy change 5-0.
